Importance in the 16th Century:

• Turkish – Venetian War (1570 – 1573) - (Wikipedia/History)
  • Cyprus was initially under the rule of the Republic of Venice
    • Venice annexed it in 1498
  • Turks had been raiding Cyprus’s coast on and off
  • July 2, 1570 - first real fight occurred: Turks sent 60,000 troops to Lissamol
  • Nicosia was the first major city in Cyrus to fall (Domino Effect)
    • Nicosia’s fall = Cyprus Massacre
    • Kyrenia fell next (no shots fired because of Massacre)
    • Followed by Famagusta (all key cities of Cyprus)
  • The Fall of Famagusta marked the beginning of Turkish Rule in Cyprus
  • Cyprus remained under Ottoman rule for three centuries after defeat
• Cyprus Massacre (Ottoman rise to power) - (Wikipedia)
  • Occurred on September 9, 1570 because of the Turkish – Venetian War
  • A massacre of an unknown amount (20,000) of Christians in Cyprus
  • Massacre allowed Turks to conquer Kyrenia easily
• Ottoman Rule in Cyprus - (Wikipedia/History)
  • 1570, the Turks took over Cyprus
  • Lala Mustafa Pasha became the first Turk governor in Cyprus
  • Original Cyprus inhabitants looked to Europe for help to over thrown the Turks
  • Between 1572 and 1668, 28 uprisings to over thrown the Ottoman Empire occurred
    • All failed